Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to Social Psychology and Sociology - Softcover

"Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality offers the best overview of an interactionist approach to social psychology available on the market. The writing is superb and capable of engaging students from a wide variety of backgrounds."--Jason Sumerau, Florida State University

"I am incredibly pleased with the way that this text is crafted; it is sophisticated without being impenetrable. Part of its unique brilliance is the contemporary relevance of the material. From theories of animal selfhood to autoethnographic methods, Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality reflects the contemporary vibrancy of interactionist scholarship."--John Bryce Merrill, Indiana University-South Bend

The fourth edition of Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality provides students with a succinct, engaging, and affordable introduction to symbolic interactionism--the perspective that social reality is created, negotiated, and changed through the process of social interaction.

Focusing on how elements of race and gender affect identity, the authors use real-world examples to discuss the personal significance of symbolic interactionism, its expanding theoretical scope, and its relationship to other prominent perspectives in sociology and social psychology. They skillfully cover empirical research topics that are inherently interesting to students, such as the dynamics of self-development, impression management, identity transformation, gender play, rumor transmission, and collective action.